Hello, I am looking for someone who can help me design a product that I want develop. It works with IR or laser. once when the beam is broken two LED leds need to be switched on, randomly choose colour: green or red. Those leds need to stay on for 6 seconds.

 

OK, an interesting package, certainly quite possible. BUT the details of that light beam are not stated How long must the beam be broken to trigger the lighting of the LEDs. And how bright will the light or laser beam be?it seems that an indicator to show the beam on target will be required.
What is the proposed sensor for the IR beam? That affects every aspect almost.
Certainly this product design is quite possible.
Commercial engineering rates will apply.

 

The IR LED is usually modulated at 38 or 40 kHz. Use a common IR receiver which has the internal circuitry to detect the modulated IR.

 

The IR LED is usually modulated at 38 or 40 kHz. Use a common IR receiver which has the internal circuitry to detect the modulated IR.

thanks so much. is there anyone who can help me out with the design/advice?

 

Depending on the distance between the source and the sensor, as well as the available aiming accuracy, several different schemes are available.
The modulated beam scheme is very useful for when there is also a lot of ambient illumination and less accurate aiming.

 

thanks so much. is there anyone who can help me out with the design/advice?

Select one you could purchase from where you live and read the datasheet.

That was what I did.

 

As already noted, it looks like this should be a very simple design, although some details need to be fleshed out. It can be done with discrete components pretty easily, but it is screaming out for a very simple 8-pin microcontroller solution.

 

Select one you could purchase from where you live and read the datasheet.

That was what I did.

thank, the problem is that I can do some minor electrical work. but im not a technician by trade. so even reading data sheets can be difficult for me.

 

OK, everybody! read the first post again. This is intended as a product, not a "One Off" hobby creation. That means that in addition to assembly and function considerations, component availability and assembly effort will matter quite a bit. So none of those inadequately documented, unknown ongoing availability deals from the online "stuff sellers"!
And probably no microcontroller that will require programming and support hardware and an external sensor interface.

Designing for production is a bit different, unless you enjoy high stress sessions.

 

This does not sound right.

When the beam is broken
it triggers both of the lights
to go on. One red and one
green. There is no choice,
this is randomly chosen

 

You say . . . .
two LED leds need to be switched on, randomly choose colour: green or red. Those leds need to stay on for 6 seconds.

FURTHER CLARIFICATION NEEDED . . . .
In the . . .specific . . . .
randomly choose colour: green or red.
Are you needing a random gaming type decision . . . .like a coin toss of heads or tails . . . . . as to randomly which RED or GREEN led comes on and stays on for 5 seconds.

 

This does not sound right.

When the beam is broken
it triggers both of the lights
to go on. One red and one
green. There is no choice,
this is randomly chosen

That had me scratching my head, too, but in composing a reply last night some reading between the lines made the intent pretty clear. Breaking the beam turns on both LEDs for six seconds. What is random (with no choice being available on the part of anyone interacting with the system) is which of the two is red (with the other being green).

 

OK, everybody! read the first post again. This is intended as a product, not a "One Off" hobby creation. That means that in addition to assembly and function considerations, component availability and assembly effort will matter quite a bit. So none of those inadequately documented, unknown ongoing availability deals from the online "stuff sellers"!
And probably no microcontroller that will require programming and support hardware and an external sensor interface.

Designing for production is a bit different, unless you enjoy high stress sessions.

Why does it being a product preclude a microcontroller? LOTS of everyday products have microcontrollers in them.

Depending on the volume, the MCUs can be provided by the vendor already programmed (the availability and cost of this service would be part of choosing the MCU).

Why would an external sensor interface be required? Modulating and demodulating a ~38 kHz IR signal can all be done on the MCU in firmware, making the hardware very simple and cheap.

 

GOOD LUCK!! with the MCU design, then.

Evidently the random RED/GREEN lighting is a part of whatever game play this product provides.

 

GOOD LUCK!! with the MCU design, then.

Evidently the random RED/GREEN lighting is a part of whatever game play this product provides.

Microchip offers programming services starting at two cents per part. No need to have any programming support on the production boards at all.

The random red/green selection is trivial, given that beam breaking is (presumably) being done at very infrequent and asynchronous intervals. You simply have a free-running timer on the MCU and when the beam break is detected, use one of the bits to choose the polarity.

 

The text description is pretty clear, but the diagram confuses everything. Rather than us guessing for another 20 posts, please post a truth table with every possible combination of the LED colors, power-on state, beam not broken state, and beam broken state.

For example, LED colors could be R (red), G (green), R/G (both on steady at the same time), and RAND (random red or green, but never both).

Also, what happens when the beam becomes unbroken again after being broken?

ak

 

The text description is pretty clear, but the diagram confuses everything. Rather than us guessing for another 20 posts, please post a truth table with every possible combination of the LED colors, power-on state, beam not broken state, and beam broken state.

For example, LED colors could be R (red), G (green), R/G (both on steady at the same time), and RAND (random red or green, but never both).

Also, what happens when the beam becomes unbroken again after being broken?

ak

Back to post #1 The LEDs light for six seconds after the beam break. Then back to ready for next. LEDs off.

 

What is the range/distance? What is the budget? Maybe off the shelf unit can be used to simplify and speed up design. Is it ok that sender and receiver are on opposite ends (beam through)? Is it ok to run wires between them? Is it preferred that both are on the same side inside same device (simpler installation, same powersource, noo wires or mirrors or radios)? Is it ok that the beam is invisible? It may be more practical to have visible beam as alignment aid....

 

Also, what power sources are available to power the IR of laser beam, the beam detector, the timing circuit, and the LED drivers?

This looks like a job for a CD4093.

ak

 

Keep in mind that, as per post #1, this is for a product, probably intended to be sold to the public.